Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium

The poster girl for the game is Groza.

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium known as 少女前线2：追放 in Simplified Chinese, 少女前線2：追放 in Traditional Chinese, 소녀전선2: 망명 in Korean and ドールズフロントライン2：エクシリウム (Dolls' Frontline 2: Exilium) in Japanese, is a game by Sunborn using XCOM-lite, tactical two-dimensional gameplay with 3D graphics and Physically Based Rendering and Non-Photorealistic Rendering. It is available for PC, Android and iOS.

Despite being a sequel, Girls' Frontline 2 is due to run alongside Girls' Frontline rather than replace it. The game includes voice lines in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

Gameplay

T-Dolls

Unlike in Girls' Frontline, playable characters in Exilium are obtained from premium Gacha.

Each T-Doll can be of Standard (purple) or Elite (orange) rarity, belongs to one of four classes (Bulwark, Vanguard, Sentinel or Support) and wields one of seven weapon types. Handguns, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Rifles, Machine Guns and Shotguns were available in the first game, and Exilium adds Blades as a new weapon type. T-Dolls have access to five skills: a normal attack, two active skills, an ultimate skill and a passive skill. Skills are the primary method to apply Phases, which can be of type Burn, Corrosion, Hydro, Freeze or Electric. Phases and weapon types are important, as they can be used to exploit the weaknesses of enemies (see Gameplay). T-Dolls are enhanced by leveling up, Neural Fortification (requires duplicates of the Doll), Neural Helix and Key Regulation (where up to six bonuses can be assigned).

A T-Doll can wield any weapon from her assigned weapon type, even if it is not her preferred gun model. Weapons are also obtained in premium gacha and come in three rarities: Retired (blue), Standard (purple) and Elite (orange). They are enhanced separately by spending enhancement currencies and duplicates.

As in the first game, Dolls can receive costumes and weapons can also be customized. Increasing Affinity with the Dolls also grants major bonuses to stats and resources collection, making it more important than in the first game.

For information on the enhancement menu, read GFL2 Doll Enhancement. See also the Weapons List.

Other units

The Commander can join the battle by commanding one of two land drones: the Chiara-IV Gatling (styled female) and the Pierre-II Howitzer (styled male). It only appear in the Affinity upgrade missions.

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Main article: GFL2 NPCs

• NPC artworks of Kalina, Persica and ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 (under the file name “laiya”) were found in the second closed beta.
• ^SMG TMPTMPTMP, ^SMG PP-90PP-90PP-90, ^HG Welrod MkIIWelrod MkIIWelrod MkII, ^SMG VectorVectorVector, ^RF VSK-94VSK-94VSK-94, ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 (with a new design), ^AR ST AR-15ST AR-15ST AR-15, ^SG DP-12DP-12DP-12 and Kalina were shown in the 6th Anniversary trailer.
• ^AR Type 95Type 95Type 95 (under her name Daiyan), ^RF KSVKKSVKKSVK (under her name Dushevnaya), ^HG WKpWKpWKp, ^RF WA2000WA2000WA2000, ^AR AK-AlfaAK-AlfaAK-Alfa, ^HG Nagant RevolverNagant RevolverNagant Revolver and ^SMG MP7MP7MP7 (under new names), as well as new characters Zhaohui, Ullrid and Anduosi were revealed during the anniversary in the teaser picture below.
• ^AR G36G36G36 (under her name Centaureissi), ^AR Type 97Type 97Type 97 (under her name Jiangyu) and ^RF SpringfieldSpringfieldSpringfield were announced in the 20 December 2023 pre-OBT release livestream.
• ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45, under the latinized name Leia, was teased under her classic appearance during the G-STAR 2024 game conference in South Korea.

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Combat

File:GFL2 Combat example.png

Combat takes place turn-by-turn on a square grid containing various obstacles that can be used as cover to reduce incoming damage. Each party use their units during their turn, usually moving, then attacking. Some units can move after attacking, while others can attack outside of their turn using skills that enable preventive attacks, support attacks or retaliation attacks. The gameplay is often compared to modern entries of X-COM, though all attacks are guaranteed to hit in Exilium. A limited number of rewinds let players correct small mistakes.

Cover is directional, and so flanking or otherwise circumventing covers is at the core of the gameplay. Each unit on the field holds a certain amount of Stability Index. Incoming attacks reduce Stability, and once the index reaches zero, the unit loses the bulk of damage reduction from being in cover. Each unit has one or more weaknesses against a weapon type and a phase type, and will lose more Stability when receiving damage it is weak against. Skills are the main way to inflict phase damage and exploit these weaknesses.

Facilities

The Public Area contains the Dormitories, where players can interact with unlocked Dolls, increase their Affinity and make a Covenant with them.

It also contains the Dispatch Room, where Dolls not used in combat can be sent on commissions matching their personalities to gather more resources, like the Forward Base in the first game. The Dispatch Room also passively generates resources and contains an alternate gacha.

Premium Content

Gacha

Like modern gachas and unlike the first game (where premium gacha was reserved for costumes), playable Dolls and their weapons are mostly obtained through premium gacha in Exilium. The main gacha currencies are the Access Permissions to access permanent banners, and Targeted Access Permissions for time-limited banners.

Banners that drop Dolls also drop weapons. In the standard banner, Elite (orange) Dolls and weapons have a base 0.6% chance of appearing and Standard (purple) Dolls and weapons a base 6%. Rates become slightly enhanced after 58 pulls, and a pity system guarantees an Elite drop (Doll or weapon) at 80 pulls. On weapons-only banners, base Elite rate is 0.7% and base Standard rate is 7%, rate enhancement begins after 50 pulls and guaranteed Elite drop at 70 pulls. After the guaranteed Elite drop has been obtained, the pity system is reset, and pity counts do not transfer between banners.

Duplicate Dolls and weapons can be used to enhance those already owned. If a Doll has been fully enhanced and a duplicate drops, it is converted to 18 Redundant Pieces if it is Standard or 90 Redundant Pieces if it is Elite. Each Retired (blue rarity) weapon pulled grants 2 Withdrawal Receipts, each Standard (purple) pull grants 12 Redundant Pieces and each Elite pull grants 60 Redundant Pieces. These currencies are used to acquired materials and Elite weapons in the Shop.

Exilium's gacha is usually considered generous due to the amount of currencies accrued by playing the game regularly and many players have been able to collect all characters without using the premium shop.

Battle Pass and premium shop

Exilium features a 60-levels monthly Battle pass. The paying tiers are called Hunter's Path (9.99$) and Broker's Path (19.99$). Hunter's Path grants access to extra Targeted Access Permissions, and Broker's Path to extra resources and player card customization.

Premium costumes and weapon skins are purchased with Credit Tokens, which can also be used to purchase a few other resources in the shop. A variety of other subscriptions and packs granting resources and currencies can be bought through microtransactions.

Story

Main article: GFL2 Story

Exilium takes place in Eastern Europe in 2074, 12 years after the start of Girls' Frontline. After the emergence of the URNC and its taking over of the Neo-Soviet Union, Griffin and Kryuger has been forcibly downsized in the URNC's move to limit the power of PMCs. The Commander left to take part in the rise of bounty hunters, leading Tactical Dolls both familiar and new in the frontier region between contaminated and safe land aboard the Elmo mobile base. After accepting a suspicious commission to transport a mysterious box, the Commander is targeted by multiple forces who aim to seize the young girl contained inside. The Commander must protect the cargo and uncover old secrets and conspiracies linked to relics.

Like the first game, the narrative medium is primarily a visual novel, but character sprites have their faces animated with Live2D (similar to Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery), 3D cutscenes have been added and the main story is voice-acted. Sunborn has stated that the story is sufficiently independent that it can be enjoyed without playing the first game.

Like the first game, the story is told in the permanent missions as well as limited-time Events. Additional lore in found in the Battlefield Echoes, Classified Briefings and loading screens.

Locations

Black Zone (黒区)

Also called "Ground Zero", a dozen-kilometers wide impact crater emitting lethal levels of Collapse radiations. It's the final objective of the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Only ELID infected and mutated plants can survive here. Surface soil was vitrified mid-flight and formed sharp crystalline spires, and radioactive collapse storms regularly sweep the wastelands, destroying any living or electronic object. A mysterious tower in this zone contains the entrance to a relic and its research structures. Contamination level is over 10,000 FBA (弗必安).

Red Zone (红区)

A contaminated area near the Black Zone, still needing to be purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Humans or Dolls shouldn't enter the area without protective equipment, and be wary of ELID infected and unidentified roamers. The area is mostly made of deserts and deep ravines with a silicafied soil due to frequent exposure to high concentrations of collapse radiation. Most plants can't survive the soil erosion and frequent collapse storms, but in low terrain areas Epiphyllum flowers (with some regional variations) can grow in large clusters, which are able to lower radiation around them. However, during the flowering period, they sharply increase radiation concentration. Damaged beacons, overturned convoys and helicopter wrecks litter the area for reasons unknown. The original buildings are still standing, but badly damaged and with signs of post-contamination usage. Contamination level ranges from 150 to 10,000 FBA (弗必安).

Yellow Zone (黄区)

The frontier zone next to the Red Zone, soon to be purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Dolls can move in this area freely but humans still need protective equipment. ELID infected are not an infrequent sight, but bounty hunters, members of the Варяг (Varangian) gang and common residents also inhabit the area. The area has desertified, making dry deserts and deadwood forests a common sight. Areas with enough groundwater have turned into marshes, forming oases in low terrain and water-rich areas. Areas with abnormal climates or close to collapse radiation sources experience collapse storms, silicafying the soil and becoming blooming ground for Epiphyllum flowers. Beacons near green zones are well preserved and those near red zones are damaged. The original buildings are mostly in serviceable condition. Lots of abandoned resources can be found in cities and towns, so there are signs of the area being inhabited. However, residents need to draw from below 100 meters deep to find drinkable groundwater.

Contamination level ranges from 1 to 150 FBA (弗必安) and there are a number of Purification Towers called “Beacons”. Beacons near the Green Zone are in good condition, but those the Red Zone are damaged.

Purification Zone (净化区)

The frontier zone between Yellow and Green Zone, in process of being purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement, currently the core of the New Western Campaign. The Purification Zone's net radiation density is between Yellow and Green Zone on average, but there are local variations. Vegetation and terrain are still similar to a Yellow Zone. Low-hanging bushes are common, but trees are more rare due to a lack of water. Neo-Soviet Union troops occupy areas for extended periods of time, destroying buildings that were too damaged with explosives, and monitoring the passage of bounty hunters, PMCs and other paramilitaries. Since the livable buildings are occupied by the army, there are no permanent residents in the area.

Green Zone (绿区)

The most recently extended livable areas, without any dangerous levels of collapse radiation. Primary Green Zones have not been selected as targets for reconstruction efforts by the government. They have returned to a natural state, with regard to the amount of vegetation and water supply. Non-Primary Green Zones are still seeing purification processes, but are already livable, with vegetation starting to flourish again. These areas are the end results of the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. The plain terrain, with few geological depressions, makes for easy infrastructure construction. Most Green Zone residents are either workers in the factories of White Zone cities, bounty hunters, PMCs or black market merchants. They are implanted with ID chips that track their biological and social data. The demography is often controlled by corresponding White Zone cities. Non-Primary Green Zones are largely made up of factories, farms, and regionally-distributed satellite cities. These cities have a dense and chaotic urban structure, like twisting narrow alleys. During the day, these satellite cities are mostly empty, but at night, after the residents return home form work, the city limits blaze with light. Contamination level is under 1 FBA (弗必安).

White Zone (白区)

The safest zone possible. Cities surrounded by Green Zones and the best examples of purification by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Before World War Three, they were economic, governmental or military activity zones. They have since been cleansed of all sources of collapse radiation and contamination. Full suites of Collapse Radiation warning systems, pollution prevention, and safeguarding countermeasures have been installed. Urban areas are clearly defined to allow these systems to work at their fullest. Temperature and humidity are carefully regulated for the comfort of inhabitants. Every inch of space on, under and above ground is being used at its fullest to make up for the limited land available, making for fully vertical cities. Recreational facilities are generally found on the roofs of buildings. There are a few areas dedicated to vegetation, though some can be found on the edges of the cities. City traffic relies on dual-purpose elevated roads for cars and light railways. Most light rail stations are found inside buildings, with station names signposted outside the buildings. Car elevators are standard issue for all major buildings. White Zones are inhabited by normal residents and hired PMCs. Each White Zone City has a different population level and class structure, creating a variety of governance systems and cultural organizations. Contamination level is maintained at 0 FBA (弗必安) at all time.

Factions

Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition

The URNC governs over half of the world but its reach is weaker in contaminated zones, which is the reason for its investment in purification projects.

Private Military Contractors

These organizations originally emerged to provide cost-effective solutions to security concerns, but the market has now shrunk. They provide security and escort services and are now centrally managed by the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition's Paramilitary Forces Supervision Bureau (非军事力量管理局).

Griffin & Kryuger

Once a powerful Private Military Contractor staffed with many Tactical Dolls. After the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition was established, the world situation stabilized and G&K's influence was seen as a danger, so it was restructured and stripped of its power.

BRIEF

An organization promoting the rights and the development of bounty hunting (赏金猎人权益拓展及推进协会). They manage the activities of bounty hunters in the contaminated zones, providing resources to support their profit. They are not a regulatory authority but rather seek a mutually profitable partnership with independent bounty hunters.

Varjagers

In late 2067, the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition first sighted a new bandit group in the contaminated regions calling themselves the Varjagers (瓦良格帮). Recognizable by their uniform and well-armed, including assault mechs starting 2070, they specialize in cruel looting raids but no governmental action has been taken against them since they don't target purified regions. They are prime targets for bounty hunters.

Their name is derived from the Varangians, a medieval Viking group.

Sangvis Ferri

After the fall of the arms manufacturer, all of its patents fell into public domain and its physical assets were redistributed. Starting 2067, an increasing number of Sangvis Ferri robots and Dolls have started to appear in purified regions, produced in former SF plants reactivated by third-party manufacturers. In 2070, in the Green Zone city of Odesa, a case of a pet Dinergate gone haywire drew attention to a black market dedicated to modified and unsafe SF machines.

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Underground Brokers

Black market resellers traveling between the safe and contaminated areas, secretly buying and selling their merchandise. Their business has been dwindling due to the rise of bounty hunting.

Girard Group

The Girard Group (吉拉尔集团) is a powerful industrial company based in the Odesa region (奥德卅州), dealing in the production of machinery, infrastructure and R&D. They have developed strong ties to the region and contributed significantly to its purification project.

Their logo is similar to the logo of Svarog Heavy Industries' Cyclopes Sector in Magrasea.

ELID

With the progress in human treatment against ELID, the main danger posed by the disease has now shifted to the wildlife of the contaminated regions. The term "ELID Infected" has now been replaced by "ELID Silence Dread" or "living skeletons/hollows" (生骸) due to the changes occurring in contaminated animals. Despite how dangerous these animals are, some like the Obsidian Hare are captured and sold as pets, leading to casualties in owners.

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Development history

Girls' Frontline 2 was announced as a 3D game on 18 May 2018 during the livestream for Girls' Frontline's second anniversary. Though an animated 3D model of ^AR HK416HK416HK416 was used in the teaser, the logo showed the silhouette of ^AR OTs-14OTs-14OTs-14. A Weibo post after the stream specified that the game was in early stages of development and was developed by a new team in parallel of Girls' Frontline's dev team. The name was announced as tentative.

The full title Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium was revealed on 15 May 2020 during MICA Team's 4th anniversary stream, alongside Project Neural Cloud and Girls' Frontline: Glitch Land. According to producer Yuzhong, the title “Exilium” (追放) embodies two aspects of the story: the Japanese reading of “exile” relates to certain important characters, while the Chinese reading of “chasing after what was set free” relates to the goal of the Commander. Compared to Project Neural Cloud, which was made more mainstream to expand the fanbase of the IP, Girls' Frontline 2 retains the post-apocalyptic/realistic atmosphere and hardcore-oriented gameplay of Girls' Frontline. The SLG (Simulation Game) and RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genres were considered for the sequel, but the Strategy RPG genre was ultimately selected for its storytelling potential and ease of control with both PC and mobile platforms. Motion capture was done by Chengdu Big Eyes Technology.

Vanguard Sound would continue to produce the music, microtransactions would transition to more mainstream model compared to Girls' Frontline, and the technical side of development was deemed complete in January 2021, with focus switching to asset production. Producer Yuzhong and Director Smoke presented the game's features in the Beilan Island Shelter Broadcasts through 2021, such as the dorm system, cross-platform features between PC and mobile, plans for a CN dub and the weapon customization and gacha systems. A multiplayer mode was mentioned by Yuzhong in interviews. The game received a first closed beta test from 29 June to 3 July 2021 and a second from 18 to 31 October 2021. The non-final gacha system received special criticism.

On 13 May 2022, a second trailer was released on Weibo alongside new gameplay videos and new characters reveal. The game's registration was approved by China's National Press and Publication Administration on 22 March 2023 and the official preregistrations website was launched on 28 April. New gameplay footage was shown after the Girls' Frontline 7th Anniversary Music Festival on 15 July 2023. In July 2023, Sunborn submitted four patents to the China National Intellectual Property Administration regarding 3D rendering methods, one of which specifically covered the rendering of stockings. A third closed beta, titled “Spark Test”, was held from 20 July to 3 August 2023, and the first new Beilan Island Shelter Broadcast in nearly two years, with Art Director Daniel, announced some gameplay system simplification, redesigned player commanders and announced the first open beta test (OBT) in September. In an August 2023 interview, Yuzhong estimated that the expended budget spent on the game was over 100 million RMB (over 13.7 million USD or 12.8 million EUR at the time), and explained that the visual direction of the game was inspired by the game Code Vein. Characters are created over periods of 6 months.

The fourth beta test and first open beta, named “Gravitation Test”, took place from 28 September to 12 October 2023 on Android and PC. On 9 October, Sunborn issued an apology regarding content deemed inappropriate in Qiongju's story and Yuzhong announced that he would be revising the game's script in a Beilan Island Shelter Broadcast the following month. In January 2024, the plot of Daiyan's character event was being reworked by a new writing team and the full story of Centaureissi's event was pushed back. Initially, Yuzhong had only provided the outline of Exilium's story and later feedback to the writers, but became more involved after the negative reviews.

CN servers opened for all platforms on 21 December 2023 (some assets referred to it as an Open Beta Test), containing story missions up to chapter 6. Luffberry Chess was announced in the pre-release livestream on 20 December 2023. The game initially suffered from low player retention due to its harsh difficulty, causing Sunborn to rework player progression and refocus production to content over challenge.

A CBT for PC and Android ran on Global's Sunborn launcher from 10 to 19 November 2024, with HaoPlay's version starting two days later as an open beta with limited places on PC, Android and iOS. The game was released on Sunborn's Global servers on 3 December 2024 and Haoplay servers (Global, TW, JP and KR) on 5 December (the official reason for the delay was to “ensure server stability”). The game reportedly reached over 2 million players on its first day.

Gallery

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  CN logo.
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  TW logo.
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  JP logo.
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  KR logo.
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  English logo.
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  Prerelease app icons.
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  Early trailer stills.
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  Nonfinal Groza artwork on Sunborn's 2020 lineup.
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  Promo artwork for Chinajoy 2020.
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  Closed Beta promotional artworks.
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  Non-final Commander models in third beta.
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  2023 New Year Promo Illustration.
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  2024 New Year Promo Illustration.
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  2024 Chinese New Year promo illustrations.
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  2024 Mid-Autumn Festival promo illustrations.
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  2024 Chuseok promo illustration.
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  2024 Halloween.
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  Gravitation Test key art.
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  All-platforms open beta artwork.
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  Release countdown artworks.
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  CN release artwork.
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  Global release artworks.
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  Mobile Armored Base “Elmo”.
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  Chibi Mayling announcing updates.
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  Socials mascot Dinergate “Little Mo”.

Links

Chinese

• Mainland
  • Official website
  • Official forums
  • Taptap page
  • Taptap announcement
  • Official Weibo account
  • Official Bilibili account
  • Mascot Weibo account
  • Mascot Bilibili account
• Taiwan
  • Website (HaoPlay)
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

English

• Official website
• Twitter account
• YouTube account
• HaoPlay links
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Korean

• Website (HaoPlay)
• Twitter account
• Facebook
• YouTube channel
• Naver community

Japanese

• Website (HaoPlay)
• Twitter account
• YouTube

Medias

• Old lore translation
• Second PV
• Full OBT trailer (JP) (music by MeLo, 大九_LN and Polyblue for Vanguard Sound)
• Full OBT trailer (CN) (music by MeLo, 大九_LN and Kinoko蘑菇 for Vanguard Sound)

References

Games Released: Girl of the Bakehouse · Codename: Bakery Girl · Girls' Frontline · Project Neural Cloud · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Canceled: Girls' Frontline: Glitch Land Anime Girls' Frontline (anime) · Healing Chapter & Madness Chapter Books Guns&Girls · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.2 · Confidential Files · Girls' Frontline: Doll's Song · Others Music Withered · Codename: Bakery Girl Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Original Soundtrack · Project Neural Cloud Original Soundtrack · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline ECHOES · Mankind Is No longer Solitary · Girls' Frontline Concerts Companies Big Firebird and Liverless · Sunborn (Mica Team) · Vanguard Sound · Game publishers Community Community Resources · Community Events Misc. April Fools · List of cultural references · Minigames · Shadow Confrontation